It’s time for a change.
That was the overriding message I heard time and again on doorsteps, not only during this general election campaign, but in the many months before, too.
As the votes were counted, it wasn’t just piecemeal change. It was a change that washed over our politics like a tsunami.
But the real litmus test is yet to come. Because, while politics has changed, the country has not.
The public – weary and frustrated with the divisions of the independence referendum, decline in public services, and countless scandals with the Tories at Westminster and the SNP at Holyrood – desperately want governments in both London and Edinburgh to start delivering today.
The role of my party, the Liberal Democrats, is now crucial.
In the Highlands and islands, our general election candidates Jamie Stone, Alistair Carmichael and Angus MacDonald were returned with huge swings from the SNP. It’s humbling to know you can now travel from Lerwick in Shetland to Fort William in Lochaber and not leave a Lib Dem constituency.
With a record-breaking 72 UK MPs, over six times the number returned in 2019, we have blown expectations out of the water. We unseated four Conservative cabinet ministers and won three of the last five seats to be held by a Conservative prime minister. We are not only the comeback kids of this election, we have been the tip of the spear in this fight for change.
It means we are, again, the third largest party in parliament, ousting the SNP and changing the political board. It returns the Liberal Democrats as a major force at the business end of politics. Our party’s MPs will now have more influential committee positions to scrutinise the government, a weekly grilling of the prime minister at PMQs, and more opportunities to lead debates on the issues that matter to you.
With the Tories now in disarray and turning to populism after their worst ever defeat, the responsibility falls to the Liberal Democrats to hold this new government to account. A Labour government that, some argue, bored its way to power, with little frankness about what it will do in office.
It really has been some turnaround. I remember standing in Dingwall with Charles Kennedy in 2015 after we lost. I remember travelling to London to clear out our offices in parliament, including what was then our leader’s office, as the SNP impatiently knocked on the door.
It’s a healthy reminder to be humble in victory and gracious in defeat. But the SNP, as my party had to do in the past, will now have some soul searching to do. While an election is an endorsement of a party, it is also a rejection of another.
Rural Highland and island communities deserve better
I have no doubt that this general election result was, in part, a scathing verdict on the SNP’s record in government. Why? When I knock on doors and speak to people, too often I hear anger and frustration about the hollowing out of community policing with the centralisation of the police force, the ill-judged attempt to impose Highly Protected Marine Areas, the endless delays with the dualling of the A9, and the shameful downgrading of women’s health and maternity services at Caithness General Hospital.
This catalogue of decisions runs against the interests of our rural communities, a message Liberal Democrats will ensure is heard loud and clear. So, while it is our responsibility to hold the new UK Government to its promises, there is work to do in Scotland, too.
The job of delivering change is only partly done. As much as we need change at Westminster, we need change at Holyrood, too. We are at the half-time mark, but we still have a distance to go before we can get the job done at the 2026 Holyrood elections.
My message, therefore, is this: if you feel let down and taken for granted, we are with you. If you want action to tackle NHS waiting lists, the cost-of-living crisis and the state of our roads, we are with you. If you want change, we are with you.
That is what I am in politics for, and I believe we can do it.
David Green is the Scottish Liberal Democrat candidate for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross
Conversation